State of British Motor Industry - LRB

[Peter Grace]

I seem to remember hearing that the average car in New Zealand costs the dealer about a third what it costs the consumer to buy. Given that these cars are imported, and that the importer makes a mark-up too, that would suggest that Clyde's finished cost to the manufacturer can't be too far off.

What interested me was that (particularly with Bentley) the impression was given that they already have an inventory, and need no new cars made, or that they are prepared to stop production and wait for the waiting lists to catch up again. As a Bristol owner at the bottom of the food chain, I would not know the answer to this. Maybe Bristol can wait it out.

Surely even an aerospace billionaire has to bring on debt when purchasing a car company, and surely even a small producer of cars has an overhead. If I read it right recently, they have only sold a handful of Fighters. Unless the Blenheim is a bread and butter product, I imagine even a car company with a waiting list is not enjoying the recession. I would have thought, even if three cars a week is enough to keep them busy over the winter, they are hoping things will right themselves quickly.